Company News

Overwhelming demand for A Fistful of Penguins at Spiel 2011

(Essen, Germany--Oct 2011) A Fistful of Penguins by Jonathan Franklin saw its world premiere at Spiel 2011 in Essen, and got an enthusiastic response. The pre-convention buzz for the game caused a steady stream of trying and buying from the moment the halls opened on Thursday morning. All of the games that were shipped to the show were sold before the hall closed on the first day. "We severely underestimated the demand for the game, and so we didn't ship enough to the show. I am sorry for the people who came by the booth on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, since we had to send them away empty-handed," said Kris Gould.

Some problems with the production run were discovered also, since Thursday was the first day Kris and graphic designer Mike Raabe saw the finished product. Two of the colors of plastic chips were indistinguishable to color-blind players. And the back sides of the rules were printed in reverse-page order. Both of these problems will be corrected before the remaining games are assembled and shipped out of Hong Kong. This will make the 144 games sold at Essen the only ones of their kind. The remaining games will be shipped to distributors in the United States and Europe as soon as the changes are made.

Last Call, Wattsalpoag's 2010 Essen release, also sold well at the show. All copies were sold out by the end of the day on Saturday. Distant Lands, the first expansion for Jet Set, was a hot seller, too. It premiered at Origins convention in Columbus, Ohio in June, but this is the first time many of the Europeans could get their hands on it. In all, it was busy and eventful; a great show!

Get a Fistful of Penguins at Essen this year!

(Issaquah, WA--Sep 2011) Look for a brand new game from Wattsalpoag this year: A Fistful of Penguins by Jonathan Franklin. A light dice game that is fun for the whole family, Penguins will make its world premiere at Spiel 2011 in Essen Germany, October 20-23. Come vist us at the Wattsalpoag booth; hall 5, booth 02, and give it a try!

Distant Lands is available in America

(Issaquah, WA--Sep 2011) Distant Lands - the first expansion box for Jet Set - is now available through local stores in the U.S. and the western hemisphere. Check out our Where to Buy page to find out how you can get your hands on one.

World Premiere at Origins 2011

(Issaquah, WA--May 2011) Look for our premiere of Distant Lands, the first Jet Set expansion at Origins Game Fair 2011 in Columbus, Ohio June 23rd to 26th. We will be giving demos of the game at Booth 439, and in the Open Gaming Area, Hall D. Stop by and give it a try!

Australian Games Expo Rescheduled

(Issaquah, WA--Jan 2011) Due to unforeseen circumstances, Wattsalpoag Games will not be attending the Australian Games Expo this year. We will, however, be present for the 2012 Australian Games Expo which will take place from January 27 - 29, 2012. Hope to see you all then!

News from BGG.Con in Dallas

(Issaquah, WA-- Dec 2010) The BGG.Con in Dallas was a big success, with a constant flow of people coming by the booth, all excited about Last Call! Much playing and demoing followed! The game even made it onto the Board Game Geek 'Buzz' list, thanks to the word of mouth at the show!

New Distributor in The Netherlands!

(Issaquah, WA-- Dec 2010) We would like to thank Jean-Paul and the entire gang at The Game Freak, for becoming our first distributor in the Netherlands! Dankjewel! Look for them to be offering our games at the Ducosim Autumn Toy Fair, December 11th, in Amersfoort (Holland)!

Last Call and Claim It! in UK

(Issaquah, WA-- Dec 2010) Last Call and the Claim It! reprint have made port in the UK! MnP Games Distribution should be offering both to the English market by the end of the week!

Welcome new distributors

(Issaquah, WA-- Nov 2010) Wattsalpoag Games has two new distrbutors; Hyptic in Finland and Spelshop in Belgium.

Distant Lands

(Issaquah, WA-- Nov 2010) The release of Distant Lands - Jet Set Expansion Set #1 has been delayed until Spring 2011. Please stay tuned for updates as the release date firms up.

Rulebook translations

(Issquah, WA -- Sept 2010) Wattslapoag is happy to provide additional rulebook translations in Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish. They are available for free download on the game detail page.

Preview of Last Call - the Bartender Game

(Indianapolis, IN -- Aug, 2010) Wattsalpoag showed their new game at Gen Con in Indianapolis: Last Call- the Bartender Game. The game is about mixing drinks and serving them before the bar closes. There are six bartenders, marked by game boards arranged in a circle, and the players represent bars who employ these bartenders to mix drinks for their customers. Whoever makes and serves all four of their drinks while earning the fewest ice cubes wins the game.

This is Wattsalpoag's fastest game yet, taking about fifteen minutes to complete. And in spite of the bartender theme, the game is simple enough for eight-year-olds to enjoy. With 24 custom molded plastic liquor bottles, 40 ice cubes, six boards, as well as cards and die-cut pieces, Last Call fills up Wattsalpoag's new 12" x 6" x 4" box size.

Although the final game is still in production, a mock-up of the game was available at Gen Con, with final bottles and ice cubes, and final artwork on the boards and cards. It got enthusiastic responses from the convention attendees who got a chance to play it, with lots of eager anticipation for its release later this year.

Last Call - the Bartender Game is scheduled to be premiering at Spiel '10 in Essen, Germany this October. From there, it will be shipped directly to the rest of Europe and the United States for distribution in November and December. Look for it this winter!

Visit Wattsalpoag at Origins and Gen Con Indy

(Issaquah, WA -- May, 2010) Wattsalpoag will be in Columbus Ohio for Origins, June 24 - June 27, 2010. Come see us Thu - Sun in booth 437 of the Exhibitors' Hall. We will also be supplying games to the CABS/Origins Board Room, so feel free to drop in over there and try a Wattsalpoag game at any time.

If you miss us at Origins, maybe you can catch up with us at this year's Gen Con in Indianapolis, August 5 - August 8, 2010. Our Gen Con location will be booth 1511. We will also be doing game demos at the Gen Con Trade Day event on Wednesday August 4.

At both Origins and Gen Con, we will have table space in our booth, so come on over to learn a new game, or play one of your favorites. No tickets, no fees - just relax and play a game. And learn about our projected new releases for this year: "Last Call - The Bartender Game", Tastes Like ...", and the expansion for Jet Set.

Stop by and say "Hi." We'd love to hear from you.

Wattsalpoag at GAMA Trade Show and GameStorm

(Issaquah, WA -- March, 2010) Wattsalpoag Games will be represented at GAMA Trade Show in Las Vegas March 23-26, with a booth manned by Mike Raabe, art director, and Kris Gould, game designer. Attendees can visit us at booth #428 in the Exhibitors Hall. Come see demos of our four games, and learn about this year's projected new releases: "Last Call - The Bartender Game", Tastes Like ...", and the expansion for Jet Set.

Thanks to an overlap between GAMA and GameStorm, Wattsalpoag can't be in both places. But while Mike Raabe races home to work on the graphics for the new releases, Kris Gould will head to Portland Saturday March 27th, to represent Wattsalpoag at GameStorm on Sunday. Come by the GameLab events at GameStorm to meet him, and perhaps get a chance to playtest a prototype of an upcoming Wattsalpoag game.

And be sure to visit us at Origins and GenCon Indy, where Wattsalpoag plans to have booths this year.

Wattsalpoag moves into new office

(Issaquah, WA -- January 2010) Wattsalpoag has opened a new office in Issaquah, Washington. Setting up the office has been going on since November 2009, keeping the staff busy buying furniture, setting up electrical lines, installing software and many other tasks. But now, in mid-January, the office is finally fully functional. Along with the new address comes a new phone number.

The new address and phone numbers are:

Wattsalpoag Games
1595 NW Gilman Blvd, suite 7
Issaquah, WA 98027

phone: (425)677-7628
fax: (425)677-7983

Jet Set Expansion cards released at Spiel '09 in Essen

(Essen, Germany -- October 22, 2009) Two sets of expansion cards for Wattsalpoag's hit game Jet Set were released to the public at Spiel '09 in Essen, Germany. The cards were a small taste of a larger expansion set planned for release in 2010. The cards - Business and Investor cards - contained English text only, and were available for 1 Euro, or free for anyone who bought Jet Set at the fair.

The Investor cards provide an infusion of money twice during the game: each time a Vacation card is turned up. The Business cards allow players a one time benefit - from extra planes to points at the end of the game. Other elements of the expansion set (not in the packet available at Spiel '09) will include Hub cities and Intercontinental flights. Any flight you claim that goes through one of your hub cities will get you extra income or victory points. Intercontinental flights are longer and more expensive, but provide you with consistently high income as well as lots of points at the end of the game.

Even though the expansion cards on offer in Essen were in English only, the show saw a new level of internationalization for Wattsalpoag. For the first time, Jet Set was available with rules and reference cards in three languages (English, French, and German) inside the box. This will be the new standard for Wattsalpoag, with all future releases being multilingual, starting with the reprint of our popular Claim It! game. Claim It! sold out the last of its initial run of 1000 games at Spiel '09, and a second edition is now in the planning stage.

Jet Set - Latest Wattsalpoag game to debut at Spiel '08 in Essen

(Essen, Germany -- October 18, 2008) Spiel '08, the world-famous game convention in Essen, will be the site of the premiere of Jet Set - Wattsalpoag's latest family strategy game.

Kris Gould, the game's designer, says, "Jet Set is a game of economy and path building, set in the heart of Europe. It is a little longer and more complex than our previous games, but it is still fun for families with older children. The box says 90-120 minutes, but I have never seen a game last as long as 120 minutes, even with six players. And that's another good thing about this game: It makes a great two-player game, but you can play with up to six people for a more complex and interesting experience."

Jet Set is Wattsalpoag's second new game for 2008. The other new one, Fruit Fair, made its debut at U.K. Games Expo in May. Fruit Fair was well recieved there, and was nominated for a "Best Boardgame" award. Jet Set and Fruit Fair will both be available at the Wattsalpoag booth at Spiel '08 (Booth 5-02), as well as Nomads of Arabia and Claim It!, Wattsalpoag's two previous games.

Two games a year will be difficult for a company to maintain. But Wattsalpoag may be able to keep it up for a while, as they branch out into other game types. They have a card game, a party game, and a children's game already in the works. But that doesn't mean they will be ignoring the family strategy games. Still in the revising/tweaking/playtesting stage are Switchin' Tracks - a railroad game, Antique Dealers from Neptune - a different kind of antiquing game, Children of the Gods - a game of city building in ancient Greece, and many more.

Wattsalpoag to Premiere Fruit Fair at UK Games Expo, May 31 - June 1, 2008

(Seattle, USA -- May 21, 2008) Wattsalpoag Games will be at UK Games Expo in Birmingham for the first time this year. We will be demonstrating Wattsalpoag games at two tables near the JKLM booth.

We are happy to announce the world premiere of Fruit Fair at this year's Expo! In Fruit Fair, 3 to 5 players compete to be the first to pick fruit from four trees, and send it to the fair for prizes. Holding on to the majority of each fruit gives you a special benefit. But don't hold on too long, or another player will grab that gold medal you wanted! Fruit fair is appealing and accessible for the whole family, but with enough strategy to satisfy the serious gamers in the group.

Preproduction copies of Fruit Fair got good buzz at Spiel 07 in Essen, as well as at Alan Moon's Gathering of Friends. Come give it a try, and see what they were talking about.

We will also have our games from the past two years for Games Expo attendees to try: Claim It! is a game of rolling dice and claiming land in the gold rush days of the American west. Nomads of Arabia lets you collect wild camels, horses, donkeys and goats in the deserts of Arabia.

Come and play a game with the game designer and artist for Wattsalpoag Games. Our games will be sold at the JKLM booth nearby. So stop by and try one out, or just say Hi!

Visit Wattsalpoag at Gen Con So Cal, November 16-19, 2006

(Seattle, USA -- November 11, 2006) Wattsalpoag is attending Gen Con Southern California in Anaheim, USA. Visit us to help celebrate the US debut of Wattsalpoag, the latest addition to the board game industry. Play Claim It!, the first Wattsalpoag game, and preview Nomads of Arabia and Fruit Fight which will be released this winter.

Successful Debut at Spiel '06

(Seattle, USA -- October 27, 2006) Kris Gould, game designer and owner of Wattsalpoag Games, writes to us saying,

I am proud to announce that Wattsalpoag Games is now officially open for business, as of October 19, 2006!

Last week, Mike and Kristina and I went to Germany, to Spiel 06 - the enormous game convention in Essen, Germany. There we received the first commercial copies of Claim It!, one of three games that will begin Wattsalpoag's career. The other two: Fruit Fight and Nomads of Arabia, will hopefully be available before the year ends.

The convention was great! We sold about 100 games retail, and talked to several store owners and distributors who were excited about carrying Claim It! In addition to Germany, Britain, and France, we had inquiries from Italy, Israel, Belgium, Lithuania, Australia and Japan! Here in the states, Funagain Games (funagain.com) will be carrying our games.

Now we're back, and in addition to trying to get the other two games ready for manufacture, we are dealing with production, getting orders and getting games to dealers and distributors, setting up the financial and legal parts of the business, getting ready for another convention in California next month, promotions and reviews, and lots of etc.

Anyway, check out our web site and let me know what you think. Many thanks to Keith van Kirk, who designed and set up the website!

And huge amounts of thanks to Mike Raabe, who is taking time from painting and ripping up carpet to try to complete all the art for THREE GAMES (!!!) before the year ends. And to Kristina Raabe, who is not only handling all the contacts and information keeping (whew!), but whose knowledge of German kept us alive at Essen. Many many many many thanks to both of you!

So check out Wattsalpoag Games, and Have fun!

Visit Wattsalpoag at Spiel ’06 October 19-22, 2006

Wattsalpoag will be attending Spiel ’06 in Essen, Germany. Visit us in Hall 10, Booth 27 to help celebrate the debut of Wattsalpoag, the latest addition to the board game industry. Play Claim It!, the first Wattsalpoag game, and preview Nomads of Arabia and Fruit Fight which will be released this winter.

Wattsalpoag Releases Claim It!

(Essen, Germany -- October 18, 2006) Wattsalpoag announces the release of Claim It! at the company’s debut at Spiel ’06. Claim It! is the first game from the Bellevue, Washington, USA based board game company.

Claim It! is a press-your-luck style game set in the Gold Rush era of the American Old West. Players roll dice and claim spaces on the board. At any time you can stop and claim your spaces, or continue rolling and risk “going bust.” Spaces can be stolen from other players or permanently claimed to prevent loss. The player with the most contiguous spaces at the end of the game wins.

With an initial print run of 1000 games and a low price of US$24.00, Claim It! will be Wattsalpoag’s holiday favorite.